Sunday will be the 42nd annual Earth Day celebration. And as the organisers of Earth Day say “The possibilities for getting involved are endless”, so we here at Sigmar have been thinking of simple yet effective ways in which we all can be more green in the office.
It is a common misconception amongst all that adopting green initiatives is costly and time consuming. However, this is far from the case, from making simple changes, we can all save ourselves a few Euros and at the same time be kinder to the environment. Here are a few of our top tips to get you started;
1. Print Smart
It was said with all the advancements in technology that offices would become paperless environments, whilst computers may have lessened the need for filing systems; we’re still printing vast amounts of documents every day.
Become print wise and take note of the small reminder we see on all communications – ‘Please consider the environment before printing this email’. Only print when necessary, print double sided where possible and scan and email a document rather than printing and faxing it. Also use the back side of paper for scrap and always, always recycle.
2. Light Wise
Another simple but effective means of going green, that will also save you a few pennies in the long run is switching off lights when they are not needed. One 100 watt light bulb left on for one hour every day consumes 36.5 kilowatt hours of energy per year. Multiply that by the hundreds of lights left on every day, and it’s obvious that a simple way to reduce energy costs is to simply turn lights off when they are not needed.
Take this a step further and use natural light where possible and replace all incandescent bulbs with CFLs where possible.
3. Ramp up Recycling
Make it a habit to recycle everything at work. You may already be recycling all your paper products but take it a step further and recycle all plastic and glass bottles, aluminium cans, cardboard, computers, cell phones, ink and toner cartridges. Also donate all your unwanted office products and furniture to charity.
4. Computer Conscious
Computer Monitors use 60% of the energy needed for the whole computer, so it makes perfect sense to enable energy saving settings on all office computers e.g. monitor sleeps after 15 minutes of inactivity. Ramp this activity up by switching your computer off every night or if not possible at least turn off your monitor.
5. Green Travel
Try and cut down on using your car when going to work. Walk, Cycle or use public transport where possible. If not possible, consider arranging a car pool with a few in your locality. Not only are you reducing your impact on the environment but you are saving yourself money on fuel costs.
